Mucin-1 Kidney Disease in Families

"Our kidney doctor said we have an inherited kidney disease, but
he is not sure of the exact name."

"A disease has run in my family for a long time,
but no one knew what it was."

"I have a kidney disease, and I am worried if my children have
it."

If you have MKD, almost always one of your parents also had
MKD, and each child of yours has a 50% chance of inheriting
MKD.

How does a person get MKD?

MKD is an inherited disease. This means it is passed from
one generation to the next by an affected parent, such as your
father's eyes or your mother's nose. You cannot "catch"
MKD.

There is a 50% chance that a child of a person with the disease
will get the disease. This means that a lot of family members
(about half) will have kidney disease.

The medical term for this type of inheritance is autosomal
dominant. Below is an illustration of what a family tree with
an autosomal dominant disease can look like:

Can I get MKD if my parents do not have the disease?

If your parents do not have the
disease, you cannot get it.However,
sometimes the disease is mild and may not be recognized in the parent until
specific bloodwork (looking at how the kidney is working) is done on the parent
to test for kidney disease.Frequently,
kidney disease has no symptoms until late in the disease or later in life.

Is MKD contagious?How do other
family members get MKD?

MKD is not contagious.It is a genetic disease, meaning it is
inherited.It is passed from one
generation to the next.

Can MKD skip a generation?

No. Only an affected parent can have an affected child. Sometimes a parent may die at a young age, before the disease has been noticed. Also a parent many have a milder disease and it may not be identified.

If you do not have the mutation that causes MKD, your children can not get it from you.

How is MKD diagnosed?

A genetic test must be performed
to find out if the patient has MKD, and requires a blood draw.This is not a routine test, and is currently
only used in a research setting.Please
contact Dr. Anthony Bleyer at kidney@wakehealth.edu
or 336-716-4513 if you are interested in genetic testing.

I have MKD. Should my children be tested?

The decision to test children is
difficult.It is a decision you must
make with your family and your physician.At present there is not a specific treatment
for this condition, so learning you have MKD as a child does not change
treatment in any way.

When we are in our
late teens and early twenties, we start making plans for our lives, in terms of
where we will live, what our work will be, etc.Many individuals want to find out at that time if they are
affected.

One of my children has MKD, what type of diet should he be on?

If their kidney function is good
(which it almost always is at that age – check with the child's doctor), they should be
encouraged to eat the same heart healthy diet as any other children.

How can I help my family and other families with MKD?

Research in MKD is a partnership between family members, doctors, and scientists
studying the disease.For example, to
find the gene, we needed to compare blood samples of family members that had
the disease and those that did not.This
required us to have patients who wanted to participate in the research and
doctors willing to do the research.Now
that the gene is found, we need to study blood and urine samples from affected
individuals further to see if we can see why the disease progresses faster in
some patients than others. Please contact Dr. Anthony Bleyer at kidney@wakehealth.edu or 336-716-4513 if you are interested.

We are also excited to be working with the Uromodulin Kidney Disease Foundation which provides support for families, doctors and researchers. For more information, visit: ukdcure.org

This webpage provides only general information. Please consult your physician for recommendations specific to your care. If you think you may have this disease or another type of inherited kidney disease that no one can tell you the cause, please contact Dr. Anthony Bleyer at kidney@wakehealth.edu
or call 336-716-4513.

Disclaimer: The information on this website is for general informational purposes only and SHOULD NOT be relied upon as a substitute for sound professional medical advice, evaluation or care from your physician or other qualified health care provider.